


Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)

by merelypassingtime



Category: Venom (Movie 2018)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, But mostly angst, Fluff and Angst, Other, Post-explosion reunion, Suicide Attempt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-15
Updated: 2019-08-16
Packaged: 2020-09-01 08:15:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,667
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20255011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/merelypassingtime/pseuds/merelypassingtime
Summary: After the explosion Venom decides it would be better for Eddie if they left him.Only Eddie doesn’t seem to get better...





	1. Chapter 1

Venom regained consciousness slowly. 

It was a new experience for them. 

In all the uncounted ages since they were spawned they had never been unconscious before, and, with a hazy dissociation they assumed was a side effect of the condition, they thought it must have been something else they picked up in the short time they’d been bonded with Eddie, like they’d picked up his fondness for tater tots and his hatred of bullies. 

It wasn’t unpleasant, they thought. In fact, now that they’d tried it they wish they’d had the ability long before, it would have saved them a lot of boredom and loneliness. It also would have spared them some pain too it seemed, for as their mind came back from wherever it had gone and the curious detachment faded, pain hit them like a planet. They suppressed the feeling as best they could, hoping the echo of it hadn’t reached Eddie, then realized they couldn’t feel Eddie at all.

Fear cleared the last threads of unconsciousness and haltingly they began to expand their awareness, reaching out through their bond to find Eddie, not caring that the action also increased their pain. They needed to know Eddie was okay.

For a horrible second, there was only silence where Eddie’s mind should have been, until Venom’s spike of panic caused Eddie to stir, his brain flickering dully, but enough for Venom to latch on to, and they realized Eddie was unconscious or, more likely, asleep.

Irritation replaced panic. As much as they appreciated their own new ability to be unconscious, they still didn’t approve of Eddie sleeping and leaving them alone. About to wake Eddie up, ostensibly to demand food, but really just for the comforting buzz of Eddie’s thoughts mixed with their own, Venom hesitated. Now that they had adjusted to their own pain, they were aware of an ache that was not theirs. Focusing on the new pain they were appalled to find Eddie’s lungs were seared, two of his ribs cracked, and large patches of his skin were burnt.

Suddenly, they were overwhelmed with the need to physically look at Eddie. They knew it was irrational, that they already knew the extent of the damage better from inside his body than they could from any amount of visual examination, but that didn’t stop them from struggling to push a head up though the thin blue cotton gown covering Eddie’s chest and gazing down at him.

Venom took in the angry red burns that covered parts of Eddie’s face and neck and that had claimed one of his eyebrows and singed his hair. They also saw how the rest of his skin was too pale, almost grey, and covered in a sheen of sweat and the grimace of pain he wore even in his sleep.

He looked so small, so fragile, and so broken laying there, and Venom felt shame and anger at themselves burn through them like the fire had. It was only when Eddie stirred, restless in reaction to Venom’s self recriminations, that they managed to get their emotions in check and then only for his sake. Gently, Venom butted their head against Eddie’s unburn cheek, trying to soothe him even as their guilt grew.

They had done this to their Eddie. To their precious host, who had helped them escape Drake’s lab and given them food and taken care of them and called them a ‘we’ long after Venom had given up ever finding someone who could ever want them, and in return, they had caused Eddie nothing but pain, stress, and organ damage. They had destroyed his home, his cycle-bike, and very nearly his whole planet. 

They would probably do it all again, too. That is just what they were; they were Venom, and they brought death to all they touched.

They couldn’t let that happen this time though; they couldn’t have Eddie be another thing they killed. He deserved more than that, more than Venom. He deserved the whole world, and Venom would do their best to give it to him by giving him his freedom from Venom’s poisonous presence in his body.

Eddie turned over, restless again, and Venom retreated halfway back into Eddie’s skin. A large needle stuck in his arm brought Eddie’s thrashing up short, and he stilled, muttered something that sounded like their name before lapsing back into rest.

Hearing their own name coming from Eddie made up Venom’s mind. They stretched back up, and press themselves against those lips one last time before sinking back inside their host. 

Their former host, they corrected themselves. 

Not that they could leave Eddie right away, they were too weak and they needed to help Eddie heal, but they would leave him. It was the only way to protect him.

Yes, Venom told themselves. As soon as they were both strong enough, they would leave Eddie to live his life in peace and to find happiness.

As the decision was made, they felt a great weight pressing in on them, as if the already hateful atmosphere of this planet had suddenly tripled in density.


	2. Chapter 2

Eddie checked himself out of the hospital the next day. His recovery was maybe a little quicker than was entirely probable, and Dan gave him a considering look as he filled out the release forms, the same look he’d given when Eddie flatly refused an MRI.

Now, as Dan pushed Eddie out of his room and towards the hospital entrance in a wheelchair, he tried again. “Be reasonable, Eddie. You should have an MRI. I mean, it was only a couple of days ago that you were on the verge of complete organ failure. We need-”

“No,” Eddie interrupted, his voice firmly even as he fidgeting nervously in the chair. “They’re too expensive.”

“I could just sneak you into the schedule, like I did last time.”

“Really, I don’t need one. Besides, I already owe you and Anne too much. We’ll-” Eddie started, then winced and corrected himself, “I’ll be fine. I just want to get home.”

Behind him, where Eddie couldn’t see but Venom could, Dan made a movement like he wanted to place a hand on Eddie’s shoulder, but thought better of it at the last moment. Instead, he said kindly, “Okay. That’s fine, but you are going to have dinner with us and explain all of this. Soon.”

“Of course,” Eddie replied, trying and failing to smile over his shoulder at the concerned man.

Dan didn’t smile back as Eddie pushed up out of the chair and started walking stiffly towards the road and home.

Eddie didn’t have dinner with them though. Both Anne and Dan tried multiple times to set it up, but Eddie ignored their calls and texts, just swiping decline and going back to idly browsing the internet. He even ignored it when Anne pounded on the door of the apartment and threatened to break it down if he didn’t open it. Eddie never stirred from the couch and eventually she went away.

Eddie rarely got up from the couch these days, and then it was only to drag himself to the bathroom and back. 

Venom couldn’t understand it. There was nothing wrong with Eddie anymore, even as weak as they were Venom had still managed to finish healing Eddie’s ribs and repaired his burnt skin days ago, but still Eddie lay on the couch, rarely eating and only drinking to take the pain pills Dan had prescribed even though the pain was gone.

There was a greyness to Eddie’s mind, a dull cloud over all of his thoughts and emotions that Venom didn’t understand and didn’t know what to do about it. All they knew was it was hurting both of them. Venom was actually weaker now than they had been right after the explosion, not only because of Eddie’s refusal to eat, but because something about that greyness sucked away all of Venom’s strength too. It scared them.

They knew they should leave Eddie, that they would have to soon or die for real, but they couldn’t. Not while their Eddie was like this.

Then, something broke in Eddie. Venom didn’t know how else to describe it. It was like when you bent a limb too far and the bone snapped, except that instead of screaming, Eddie’s mind went silent, the grey cloud evaporating, though Venom wasn’t sure the blankness that replaced it was much better.

They decided it must be an improvement when Eddie got off the couch to pick his way around the rumble still littering the apartment’s floor from the fight with Drake’s team into the bathroom, this time shedding his hoodie and sweatpants as he went and getting into the shower. 

The warm water felt good, relaxing joints stiff from long disuse and taking away the layers of sweat and grime. Eddie even brushed his teeth and shaved, leaving him really clean for the first time since Venom had bonded with him, though they couldn’t help feeling that something wasn’t right about Eddie’s eyes as he met his own gaze in the mirror.

Still, when Eddie carefully picked out a nice button down shirt and a pair of slacks that had lived at the back of his closet since his break-up with Anne, Venom admitted that whatever was broken in Eddie must be fixed now. 

They were relieved, but also overwhelmingly sad. There was no excuse to stay with him now, and they would have to move on, so Eddie would be safe. 

They probably could do it right now, while Eddie was distracted, but the thought filled him with panic, so much that it bled through their bond and pierced Eddie’s curious blankness, causing him to pause halfway through buttoning his shirt. Not right now, Venom decided, quickly pushing the sick feeling down enough for Eddie to resume his buttoning. They would leave the next time he went to sleep, so they could leave without causing him any distress.

When Eddie had finished dressing he made his way into the kitchen. Venom hoped they were going to finally eat something; they were so hungry that even dead food would be great, but Eddie only crouched next to the overturned table and started shifting through the scattered cans and splitters of broken wood in the kitchen until he found a can labeled ‘spam.’ 

Ignoring the tab on the top, Eddie wiggled the bottom of the can free. A bag of leaves and a wad of money-bills fell to the ground. Eddie’s fingers brushed the leaf bag briefly before he shook his head and reached for the money, putting it in his pocket as he stood and started for the door to the apartment. 

Eddie barely glanced at the red eviction notice on the outside of that door and didn’t lock it behind him as he left. He did look for a long, sad moment at the empty space in the alley where his bike had been before turning out into the street, walking quickly. 

It was night, Venom knew that for sure, and they thought it must be late too because the streets were mostly empty of other humans. Though the heavy, cold fog might have more to do with the lack of people than the hour, and Eddie was drenched and shivering in his thin shirt before they had gone two blocks. 

Venom wished they could surface to wrap around him, but knew they couldn’t. The temptation grew as they walk on and Eddie got colder and colder, and they hoped Eddie would get to wherever they were going before they gave in. They also hoped wherever they were going would have food.

They were disappointed when as soon as they reached a larger street with more traffic Eddie got into one of the yellow cars waiting there, and, in a voice low and raspy from disuse, told the driver, “Life Foundation building, please.”

“That’s a long way out buddy,” the driver said, looking at Eddie in the rearview suspiciously.

Eddie pulled out two of his moneys, showing them to the driver. “I’m good for it.”

“Okay, but you know the place is closed, right?”

“Is it?”

“Yeah, big investigation by the government after that guy Drake blew up. Nobody seems to know why, but my cousin’s girlfriend says-”

Venom stopped listening as the woman rambled on, though Eddie didn’t. His focus on the woman’s wild story of conspiracies and alien invasion was refreshing and Venom relaxed a little more at the proof their Eddie was coming back from wherever he had gone. 

The drive passed quickly, and when they reached the unmanned and heavily padlocked front gate of the Life Foundation Eddie handed over all the money he had with thanks. 

“This is way too much,” the driver protested, trying to hand the money back.

Eddie refused to take them. “No, keep it. I know this was out of your way.”

“Fine, but at least let me wait for you for a few minutes. There really isn’t anything here anymore.”

“No, I have business to take care of and I don’t know how long it’ll take. I’ll call if I need a ride back.” 

The look the woman gave him was speculative and a little sad. “Whatever you say. Still, I think I’ll hang around for a while anyway. It’s about time for me to stop for dinner, and this is a nice quiet place for it.

“You really don’t need to stay.”

“Yeah, I do. Labor laws and all say I need a lunch break. So, if you do decide you want a ride back into the city, or maybe just want to share a bit of my dinner and talk, I’ll be here.”

Eddie returned her level gaze, then offered his hand. She shook it awkwardly over the back of her seat. “Thanks,” Eddie said again. “I really appreciate it.”

“Hope to be seeing you again soon.”

Eddie just nodded and got out of the cab, turning his attention to the dark building with its formidable fence.


	3. Chapter 3

It turned out to be almost laughably easy to break into the once-secure facility. 

Eddie followed the fence around the building for several minutes, losing all the body heat he had recovered during the cab ride out here, until they found the hole they had torn in the fence when they escaped the lab together that first night.

At some point the gap had been covered with a plastic tarp, but it obviously had been meant as a temporary measure and was only loosely tied to the fence. Eddie untied one corner easily and slipped through, starting back down the hallway towards the hateful lab, but when they got to the thin plywood covering the door back into the building Eddie just walked by.

Venom was puzzled by that. Ever since they had heard their destination they’d assumed Eddie was going back to look for more of the evidence he needed for his story. They couldn’t think of any reason other than the story that was so important to their Eddie to return there.

Their puzzlement only grew as Eddie walked through a maze of identical corridors and though several abandoned checkpoints with suspicious ease, and Venom thought belatedly that they maybe should have paid more attention to what exactly Eddie had been looking up on the internet. If they had they might have known what he was heading for so purposefully now. Instead, they were surprised yet again when they reached a final checkpoint, this one looking out on the long gangway out to the now empty launch pad. Eddie didn’t even pause though, he just ducked under the web of yellow and black caution tape and started down the bridge.

The trip took a lot longer than it had the last time they had been on this path, even without a fight with Riot to slow them down. Part of that was of course because of Eddie’s inferior form, but Venom had to admit that the large holes left behind by that fight slowed them down as well. Eddie kept moving forward, even when the battle damage was joined by damage from the explosion, leaving the walkway black with soot and twisted from the heat, slowing them further.

Eventually, they reached the charred remains of the umbilical tower they had propelled themselves up in that last desperate attempt to stop the shuttle. Looking at the scene again sparked a blaze of of memories for Venom. Everything had happened so fast, but the amount of emotion packed into those fleeting few seconds had stretched them out impossibly. There had been the exhilaration of rejoining Eddie, the pain from their still healing chest wound, the triumph of stopping Riot and Drake, then the burning: that horrible all-consuming flame that had seared their every cell. 

The only thing more painful than the fire had been the thought of their Eddie dying. Really, there had never been a choice about giving up their life to protect his, the only surprise was that they had lived through it.

Eddie stood still, staring up at the tower, one hand on it, seemingly lost in his own memories. Venom noticed his hand was resting over one of their claw marks, and it took all their self control to stay out of Eddie’s thoughts, especially when Eddie moved his hand up to the next rung, beginning to climb, headless of the damage to his clothing, the height, or the way the whole edifice swayed alarmingly in the strong breeze coming in from the bay. 

The metal under Eddie’s hands was warped and twisted and as he climbed more pieces of it fell to join the wreckage of the top third of the tower, which appeared to have sheared off and was clearly visible in the rumble around the base of the structure. The falling debris didn’t seem to phase Eddie and, as inexorably as he walked down the ruined gangway, he pulled himself higher and higher until he reached the very top most remaining crossbeam.

Once there, he carefully rotated until he was sitting on the beam, looking out over the water, the wind in his face. 

The view was captivating. From this vantage point,the city sprawled out before them, its millions of twinkling lights wrapped around the darkness of the bay reminding Venom of a galaxy, adrift alone in the vast blackness of space. It was beautiful, and they wondered if it was the reason for the trip.

But Eddie wasn’t admiring the view. He looked out, but it was with that curious blankness in his mind now reflected in his unseeing eyes.

Finally, he sighed and said softly into the wind, “Hello, Venom.”


	4. Chapter 4

Venom reeled at the simple greeting and all of its implications.

Did Eddie know they were alive? Had he known this whole time? Why hadn’t he said anything?

But, after a short pause, seemly to gather his thoughts, Eddie started talking again and they put their confusion aside to listen. 

“I-” Eddie started, then didn’t seem to know how to finish the sentence. 

He cleared his throat and tried again, only to stop after a few words. Finally, several attempts later, he said, “I’m sorry, buddy. For some who used to make their living slinging words, I’m not doing very well at finding any now. The truth is, I don’t think there are words for what you meant to me.

“I know we were only together for a few days, I know that. But it also feels like we were together forever, like the time that came before you, though it was most of my life, was nothing but me waiting to find you. Like everything before you was a prologue and that when I woke up in my bathtub with you in my head and hungry, that was really the start of my story.

“But now you’re gone and I don’t know what to do.

“I miss you buddy, all the time. It’s not like an ache in my heart, tinged with nostalgia for our time together or any romantic crap like that. How could my heart ache when you took it with you when died? Without it-without you-I can’t feel anything at all. And I’m just so tired, love.”

Eddie shrugged helplessly. “Honestly, I think I’m too tired to keep doing this. I don’t think I can live without you, and, even if I could, I know I don’t want to. 

“I think my story ended that night, right here with you. I was just too dumb to realize it until now.”

Here Eddie began to move, pulling himself up until he was standing on the beam he'd been sitting on. One hand held loosely to the corner girder, the other one he held out toward the bay as if feeling the breeze that still rocked the tower they stood on.

His eyes closed, Eddie said, “I think I always knew it was going to be a fall. I think that’s why I hated heights. Not that it really matters, the only thing that matters is that this is right. It needed to be here, where I lost you, where I can at least pretend to believe that we might be together again.”

Eddie took a deep breath, exhaling on a sigh. “Goodbye, Venom. I’m sorry I was too late to tell you how much I love you.”

He released his hold on the tower, falling forward towards the waves.

**No!!** Venom cried, and, tapping into a strength they didn't know they had, they threw a tendril of their substance out towards the tower.

It caught but was too thin to hold for more than a second before snapping. The second one snapped too, but the third one held on long enough to slow their fall and change their trajectory, making them slam back into the tower with bruising force.

Luckily, Eddie reflexively clung to the metal, because Venom was pretty sure they were out of tentacles to throw. 

For a few minutes Eddie just hung there, his breath heaving, his knuckles white where they gripped the tower.

Finally, tentatively, Venom said, **Eddie?**

At their voice, Eddie shuddered. “Venom?”

**Yes, Eddie.**

“Is it really you?”

**Who else would be in your head?**

“I just-” Eddie started, then stopped. When he spoke again, it was with anger. “What the fuck?! Where have you been?”

**Here, with you.**

“Then why the hell didn’t you say something? You let me think you were dead!”

**I had to! I put you in danger. You were almost killed because of me.**

Eddie actually released one hand from its deathgrip on the tower to wave it angrily as he demanded, “So what?!”

**So what?!** Venom shouted right back at him. **You can’t die.**

“Oh, but you can? You think that it’s okay for you to leave me here alone?”

**Yes! To keep you safe.**

“I don’t want to be safe, I want to be with you.”

Venom struggled with Eddie’s words, trying and failing to find any reply. Finailly, in frustration they threw open their bond to Eddie, letting him feel all their panic, their sorrow, their aching longing, their overpowering fear of losing him.

The flood of emotions hit Eddie like a physical blow and he almost lost his one-handed grip on the girder. 

When he recovered, Eddie whispered, “Oh, darling.” Then he surprised Venom by pushing his own feeling back.

It was Venom’s turn to be overwhelmed by the grief and desolation that still echoed in Eddie’s emotions. As bad as that was, the sudden knowledge of what Eddie had been planning to do tonight eclipsed it.

**You came here to die!** Venom accused, shocked to their core.

“Yeah, well, I couldn’t live without you.”

**But, Eddie-**

Eddie stopped them, his voice was gentle, but the emotions running through their still open bond were loud. “No. No, whether you like it or not, I can't go back to being anything less than we are together. 

**Eddie, I-**

“No, there is no I. You and I are a ‘we’ now.”

When Venom could only radiate confusion tinged with hope, Eddie continued, “You once told me that I was yours, now I’m the one telling you that I am yours, for better or for worse. I hope you’ll be mine too.”

**But what if I fail? What if I hurt you again?**

“You probably will, just like I’ll probably hurt you. After all, we are both losers. But together we managed to save the planet, so maybe we can figure everything else out as we go.”

**We?** Venom asked, with a trace of humor.

“Yes. We,” Eddie replied with an answering smile.

Venom burst with happiness. It felt like that moment at the base of this very tower when Eddie reached out to save them after Riot tore them apart, joining with them freely. Only this time there was no battle, no confusion or compulsion, just their Eddie choosing them again and this time forever.

They wanted to leap out of Eddie’s skin and form around him, engulfing and embracing him so they could feel joined physically as well, but they could only manage to cover his hand, squeezing it tightly. **Eddie, I love you too.**

“Oh, darling,” Eddie whispered back. 

He moved to hook his arm around the metal beam so he could bring the patch of black on his hand up towards his face, and as Eddie’s lips met Venom, sending another overpowering wave of emotion though them both, the first rays of dawn shone out over the ocean, casting their light and warmth on the two lovers.


	5. Epilogue

For a long moment everything was perfect, but even perfect moments have to end. 

Eddie sighed, lowering the hand that still held and was held by his symbiote. “Well, I guess we’ll need to get down from here now.”

**But I like the view,** Venom replied teasingly. 

“Yeah, but I don’t like the height.”

**Pu-**

Eddie interrupted, “Yeah, yeah. I know. Just help get us down, will you?”

**Why? I am not the one who got us stuck up here.**

“Yeah, well you still owe me for the time you left me at the top of that tree.”

Reproachfully, Venom said, **That was a long time ago. You should learn to forgive and forget.**

“Forget!? It took me hours to climb down.”

**It is not my fault you were so slow.**

“You could have helped.”

**Not without frightening you. Or have you forgotten that the first time you did see me you fainted.**

Grudgingly Eddie admitted, “Okay, that’s a fair point. Still, it’s not like you’ll scare me this time if you help.”

**No, but I am too weak and hungry. We haven’t eaten in ages.**

Guilt flared up in Eddie’s mind, and Venom regretted mentioning it. “I guess it has been a while, hasn’t it?”

**It is okay, Eddie. I forgive you.**

“You’re just saying that so I’ll stop bringing up the tree incident.”

**Maybe.**

“You know what, I’ll still take the forgiveness. But as soon as we get back to the city, I’m gonna make it up to you with a pizza.”

**Pizza? What is that?**

“Wow, that’s right. You’ve never had pizza.”

**Is it as good as tater tots?**

“Even better.”

**Eddie! Why have we not had pizza?** Venom demanded.

“Because you can’t help me climb down!”

**It is not very far down, just jump.**

“No,” Eddie said softly. “I think that moment has passed. You already caught me once.”

**I always got us, Eddie.**

“I know, darling, but I think I’d rather just climb down.”

Venom huffed, pretending to be annoyed. **Fine. But then you will get us pizza.**

“I’ll get us two pizzas, and then we will go home.”

**Yes. Home,** Venom agreed, but, right there, wrapped around their Eddie’s hand and feeling the constant thrum of thoughts in his head once again, they felt like they were home already.


End file.
